Senior chemistry major Madison Perchik has had a paper based on her research published in the peer-reviewed journal Computational and Theoretical Chemistry. Her manuscript, “The Effects of Ligand Deprotonation on the Binding Selectivity of the Phenylalanine Hydroxylase Active Site,” describes her ongoing work on designing new families of molecules that could help improve treatment for Parkinson’s disease. To date, Perchik has designed four families of molecules showing promise for treatment.
Perchik works in the lab of Prof. Mauricio Cafiero, and she has presented her research at the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists in Munich, Germany, and at American Chemical Society National Conferences in San Francisco (2017) and New Orleans (2018). In April, she will make a presentation in Orlando.
Perchik also is pursuing a minor in religious studies and Spanish, and she volunteers as an interpreter for Clinica Esperanza (Clinic of Hope), an affordable clinic for Spanish-speaking people around Memphis. She plans to attend medical school in the fall.